Part 27 (1/2)
”This is a major research facility, not the free clinic. And what's with all this James Bond foolishness?”
”Alex,” Jessica said, her voice dipping low, ”Just this one time, I need a favor. This is off the record. I can't go to anyone but you. It's for a story. It's very, very important. I can't tell you anything else. It's very big.”
Alex sighed, silent.
”Please?” Jessica whimpered.
”Girl, what have you gotten yourself into?”
”I can't tell you. I just need some tests run.”
”What kind of tests?”
”I don't know. Screen it for diseases. I need to know if there's anything strange about it. And I bet you there is.”
”Where'd you get this blood from?” Alex asked.
”I can't say.”
”Well, whose is it?”
Jessica sighed. ”Look. I can't say. Can you do this?”
This time, the silence was long. When Alex spoke again, there was no joking in her voice. ”This doesn't sound ethical. And depending on how old the sample is, it may or may not even be much good. You know that, right?”
”It's a fresh sample,” Jessica lied.
”What about anticoagulants?”
”Huh?” Jessica said. ”Alex, I don't know. Look, I've put the syringe in an envelope, and I'm going to come by and slip it into your purse. I'll stay for lunch, but we won't discuss it there. You can only begin testing when the lab is absolutely empty. If you feel like you have to call me at home, just say you want to talk about the book I lent you. And I'll go to a pay phone. From now on, we call it the book.”
”You know what?” Alex said after a moment. ”You sound like you have lost your natural mind.”
”Alex, will you do this?”
”All right,” Alex said reluctantly. ”Bring me the d.a.m.n book.”
David met Jessica at the door, grinning. ”She made an offer.”
At first, Jessica didn't know who ”she” was, or what the offer was for. Then she remembered that their house was for sale, and how busy David had been showing it to prospective buyers.
”How much?” she asked.
”One hundred fifty.”
”For this?” Jessica hadn't thought they'd clear more than ninety thousand.
”She wants to shut out any other buyers. The woman is a historian. She's very fond of the neighborhood, and she likes the river, the Indian lore, the burial ground, all of it.”
As he hugged her and she thought about what this meant, Jessica whooped with joy. David had paid cash for the house, so everything they made from the sale was profit. They would have more than enough money to begin their new life, first in Senegal, and then wherever else they chose to go. Jessica was transported, at that moment, far from where her mind had been in the morning's early hours, when she was turning the shed upside down searching for a knife David may have tossed out a year ago, when the floors were done. There was simply no reason to suspect him.
Suddenly, she felt guilty. David trusted her, but she hadn't trusted him. And now she had stolen his blood.
David hadn't been to the shed yet, she guessed from his preoccupation with discussing details about the sale. As soon as she got a chance, she would grab that paper bag and throw it away. If David asked questions, she'd tell him she'd been cleaning and thrown out a bag full of chemicals.
After dinner, David was in such a playful mood that he started chasing Kira around the house, his head covered under a box with holes cut out for his eyes. They must have been playing the game earlier; David had painted the box with bold strokes of black and red paint, creating a horrible face. He was making convincing s...o...b..ring noises inside his mask.
”Daddy's the Box Monster!” Kira shrieked, ducking from him.
Jessica watched them, smiling, from the table. She expected to have to clean up a sc.r.a.pe or a b.u.mp any moment, as they came precariously close to knocking over the packed boxes. But she felt a familiar twinge of envy. They were having fun together.
Jessica picked up an empty box on the kitchen counter. ”Where's the paint? I want to play,” she said, pretending to pout.
”Up in Kira's room,” David said, sounding m.u.f.fled.
”Mommy's going to be a monster too!” Kira cried, excited.
As Jessica reached the top landing, the phone rang. Alex. She ran into her bedroom to pick up the phone. ”h.e.l.lo?”
”It's me, Sis,” Alex said. She sounded weary. ”Look, I haven't had a chance to start reading that book yet.”
”h.e.l.lo?” David's voice interrupted from the downstairs line.
”I've got it,” Jessica said quickly, and she waited until she heard the click as David hung up the phone. There was a new squeal from Kira downstairs.
”There are too many people hanging around for me to do much reading, if you catch my drift. I have to crash.”
”Okay. Just let me know,” Jessica said, her words clipped. Alex sounded like she thought this was some kind of game. For all Jessica knew, their phone line could be bugged. In fact, David had told her it probably was, since Mahmoud had known about their plans to leave. Of course, explaining the bugged phone to Alex would mean explaining many other things she could not.
She should tell Alex to forget it, to throw the blood away. Why was she so curious about what was in that syringe? Was she genuinely interested because David was her husband, or simply because, as a reporter, she felt a deep need to know?
It was probably a little of both. *
”We'll talk tomorrow. Go on home and rest,” Jessica said.
”*Night, Double-O Seven.”
Jessica cringed and sighed, hanging up. As usual, Alex wasn't being serious. Well, she thought, her sister would probably realize very soon that there was nothing at all to joke about.
PART FOUR.
The Living Blood.